The Trump administration plans to roll back a Biden-era regulation that restricted the international sale of advanced artificial intelligence chips, a Commerce Department spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday, signaling a major shift in U.S. tech policy.
The existing rule, part of the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion issued in January, aimed to limit China’s access to powerful semiconductors while preserving America’s competitive edge. It created a three-tier system that grouped countries by levels of access to AI chip technology, granting the broadest permissions to allies and cutting off rivals such as China, Russia, and Iran.
Commerce officials said the regulation, set to take effect on May 15, was too complex and burdensome for American companies. “The Biden AI rule is overly complex, overly bureaucratic, and would stymie American innovation,” the spokeswoman said. “We will be replacing it with a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance.”
According to officials, the proposed replacement would scrap the tiered access structure in favor of a global licensing approach based on direct agreements with foreign governments. While the timeline for implementation remains unclear, internal debate is ongoing over how to best balance innovation with national security concerns.
Last week, Reuters reported that administration officials were considering significant changes to the rule, including eliminating the country-by-country tiers that had previously governed chip exports. Critics inside the administration reportedly described the current system as “unenforceable.”
The policy shift could boost companies like Nvidia, a major designer of AI chips, whose stock rose 3% after the announcement before dipping slightly in after-hours trading.
The Trump administration’s move underscores a broader effort to reshape U.S. technology strategy, with a focus on streamlining controls while ensuring that adversaries remain cut off from critical computing power.
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